Wednesday, August 20, 2008

A new criminal profiler on the block, Lawrence Moran AKA Larry Moran, who got a bit of television publicity during 2007 on the Devlin case out in Missouri, contacted me sometime during that year to introduce himself and chat with me about working as a criminal profiler. He had opened up his own criminal profiling agency, informing me that he had a background in psychology and investigations. We talked a few more times by telephone, about cases and the future of profiling, and I commented on how I was looking forward to more criminal profilers in the field and perhaps having the opportunity in the future to collaborate with more of them, leaving asides the egos and territorialism that have plagued the field to date. I had no issue with Mr. Moran at the time because I am not one of those profilers who is worried about competition and, since I was neither working on any cases with him or bringing him on board my agency, I did not spend time doing a background check on him.

However, just recently I came across a concerning statement Mr. Moran had made on the Internet on a blog site:

March 26, 2007 at 5:17 pmKindra,My name is Lawrence Moran. I am an investigative criminal profiler and I am interested in speaking with you about the disappearance of Colton.I found this site as I am doing current research on the Michael J. Devlin case for a future book. I also work with another criminal profiler, Pat Brown who heads up the Pat Brown Criminal Profiling Agency and the Sexual Homicide Exchange.I can be reached via my agency’s website http://www.moraninvestigations.com/God Bless,Lawrence

Why does Mr. Moran claim to work with me? Chatting with another professional in the field does not constitute a working relationship. I would never claim to work with other profilers unless we actually had an agreement and the other person knew I was working with him! I can only assume Mr. Moran wished to give himself credibility by saying he worked with me.

The following week I received an email from "Richard Cranium" who asked what I knew of Lawrence Moran and guided me to his blog where he had raised questions about Moran's credibility as a profiler. After I visited the blog, I decided to do some checking since I was concerned Mr. Moran was linking his name with mine professionally.

First I found a criminal record, a misdemeanor but still an arrest, fine and probation.

Then I got blistering emails from Moran after he found I had publicly stated that he did not ever work with me. Some bits from his emails will give you an idea of his anger and mindset:

In regards to my honesty and ethics you have real nerve!Retract those statements today as you and I both know they a completely falseif something happens again to my

property or my wife you will be sorry ... I better see a retraction.... within the next few minutes I will take care of the potential damage you have so blatantly attempted to exact upon my livelihood based upon your own egotistical desires to equal yourself with male profilers.Let me remind you of the psychoanalytical term, Penis Envy.This all better happen this evening. And like I said before, if anything else happens to my family, I will present you with an entirely new meaning of damage control.

I then located a CV that Moran sent me last year and I started making calls to verify the information. What I found was a compilation of outright lies, exaggerations, and incredibly grandiose thinking. It is one thing to provide as positive a resume as can be constructed but complete falsehoods is another matter entirely. Moran exhibits pathological lying. I guess he can call himself a criminal profiler considering he has has obtained a Masters Degree from Capella University and has worked a couple years as a youth counselor because the field lacks any requirement for certification or specific backgrounds, but his outright fabrication of his work history and calling himself Doctor when his PhD comes from a "college" of absolutely no quality makes him unfit to call himself a professional in the criminal profiling field and certainly he is not someone I wish to associate with.

Below is the 2007 resume I received from Moran and in red you will be able to see how the truth does not often match the claims Moran makes as to his employment and education. For a comparison to the 2008 resume in which Moran creates a rather different background for himself, check out

After a highly successful 17-year career as a professional actor in Hollywood LIE – Moran lists a number of appearances in television and film at IMDB which indicate he was an extra (roles as boy, boy, boy, boy....), not an actor. An extra is a person off the street who receives minimum wage and a free lunch. An extra is not allowed to speak, merely be background., I began a new career as a forensic psychologist fifteen years ago studying adolescent and adult sexual predators. Starting out in undergrad as a deputy sheriff in Tulsa, County, Oklahoma, I was responsible for developing and implementing the first inmate classification system for the jail. I am a certified courtroom expert (Illinois and Missouri) in both adolescent and adult sexual predation. I have taught psychology at the collegiate level for 4 years and currently speak to school administrators, teachers and parents around the country educating them on the prevalence and prevention aspects of child sexual predators. Commentary below.

Education

Porterville Community College (1988-1990) Certificate in Administration of Justice (60 hours)Langston University (1991-1993) B.S. (124 hours) Corrections and Criminology. This is true.Capella University (2001-2004) M.S. (48 hours) Clinical Psychology Semi-Lie – Moran attended the Masters program in Addictions Psychology at Capella from 01/07/02-01/08/03 when he received his Masters of Science (65 quarter credit hours/44 semester credit hours)Capella University – 50 post-masters credit hours in Psy.D program in Clinical psychology (All doctoral-level coursework and seminars completed). (ABD). LIE – Moran enrolled to study in the doctoral program at Capella University from 01/08/03 to 9/30/07 but he only completed two courses.

2003-PresentAdjunct Instructor (Psychology)Southwestern Illinois CollegeResponsible for teaching introductory psychology, child-development, human growth and development, death and dying and personality theory – LIE I called the college and was given this statement “We can confirm he did work for us – but not the dates you gave me and not employed today.”

2001-2006Founder and President, The Moran Clinic, Inc.Outpatient adolescent and adult sexual abuse psychotherapy practice located in St. Louis, Missouri. LIE – Moran is not allowed to be in private practice as a psychologist in the State of Missouri without a PhD and a license. He has only a PhD from a unaccredited diploma mill and he has never been licensed.

2001-2002Clinical Director/Program Development, Comtrea, Inc.Responsible for development and daily operations of juvenile outpatient drug and alcohol abuse treatment program. Responsible for creating and maintaining annual budget; juvenile drug court treatment coordination; supervision of clinical staff. LIE - May 2, 2001-May 23, 2002 – “Moran was a counselor in the adolescent substance abuse program; he was not a director and would have needed higher credentials than he had. He answered to those above him. A BA in criminal justice and hopefully some experience counseling adolescents would have gotten him the job.”

2000-2001Lead Therapist/Clinical Director, Preferred Family Healthcare, Inc.Responsible for development and daily operations of juvenile outpatient and residential drug and alcohol abuse treatment programs. Responsible for creating and maintaining outside private funding streams and supervision of clinical staff. LIE – “Moran worked here from 6-5-2000 – 3-30-2001. He was a full- time therapist – not the lead therapist or clinical director.”

1994-1998Founder and Clinical Director, Oklahoma City First Church of the Nazarene Community Outreach Mental-Health Clinic. Responsible for creating and maintaining annual budget; development of monthly training curriculum; training of all clinical and non-clinical staff-members; recruitment of all clinical and non-clinical staff-members. LIE – No one at the Oklahoma First Church of the Nazarene has ever heard of Lawrence Moran nor have they even had a community outreach mental-health clinic.

1991-1993Deputy SheriffTulsa County Sheriff's OfficeTulsa, OklahomaUniformed sworn employee responsible for enforcing the law in the unincorporated areas of Tulsa county. Responded to emergency calls for assistance; investigated complaints; investigated suspicious behavior; arrested persons suspected of committing crime; provided assistance in resolving problems; and patrolled urban, suburban, and rural areas. LIE – “Moran was a temporary civilian jailer, not a deputy. He was not certified. He worked here only six weeks from October 12, 1991 until November 28, 1991.”

1990-1991Correctional Officer I - Dick Connor Correctional CenterMedium security correctional facilityHominy, OklahomaDuties involved the supervision, custody, treatment, and training of inmates confined in the correctional facility. My duties as a CO-I were performed under the supervision of higher ranking staff and in accordance with operating procedures of DCCC. LIE – “Moran was here from April 17, 1992-October 12, 1992 in the Correctional Officer/Cadet training period – 6 months probation – he did not continue to work here after the probation period ended.

I left off the rest of the lengthy claims due to keeping this blog post at a reasonable length. But, I think you get the point.

Mr. Moran, I can only gather from your need to fabricate an entire work history in spite of obtaining a BA in Criminal Justice and an MS in Addictions Counseling that you have a problem with obtaining and keeping legitimate employment. Your need to lie and constantly change those lies exhibits a personality disorder of the type that should not be working in either criminal profiling or the psychology field. I hope you find gainful employment in some other profession.

Monday, August 11, 2008

News of John Edwards' adulterous affair and now an Internet barrage of stories about John McCain's supposed affairs are seriously ticking me off. Not for the reason most people seem to be upset - that a cheating spouse is not that big a deal and it is a issue that should only matter to the parties involved - but, because adultery IS a big deal and I am sick of people making light of it.

Marriage is a commitment and a promise, and one of the major oaths taking during the marriage ceremony is one of faithfulness. What good is a relationship if the one you love is out screwing around and then lying to you every day and night? If this way the marriage is supposed to be, why bother with it? Just date and be clear that you have no intention of being monogamous.

Oh, what, but you want to have a family? Children? Sure, so lie about staying faithful so you can have the kids, then devastate your mate and break up the family, so your kids can have a rotten life. That sounds like a great plan. This way you can make all involved miserable including your in-laws, your friends, and the community you live in.

It should not be that hard to avoid sex outside of marriage. Finding a place to go alone with someone who is not your mate and getting naked with them doesn't happen by accident. It actually takes quite a lot of forethought and planning. Before one gets under the covers or into the back seat of a car, the thought has to cross one's mind that what one is doing is wrong, dishonorable, and downright cruel to one's mate. And one must know from that point on, a big fat lie is going to be injected into the marriage along with a lot of smaller lies such as "I had to work late," and "I really love you," and "I have no idea how you got that STD...have YOU been cheating on me?"

Worse yet, if you are in the public eye, your ethics and morals are a big issue to a great many. If you are lying to your spouse, you are also lying to the people who are electing you. Furthermore, you are putting yourself in a situation to be blackmailed which is a totally unacceptable position for an elected official to be in.

Finally, what is up with the inability of so many people to just be decent? So your marriage is having problems or your sex life is going through a bad spell. Aren't there many people who don't have sex for a long period of time because of religious beliefs or just a sense of pride? Do all single people have sex regularly or do some go without for years while waiting for the right person to enter their lives?

Here is where I stand: Anyone who commits adultery is a heel, plain and simple. Furthermore, I am sick of hearing that sex with someone other than one's spouse is acceptable during separation. Separated people are not divorced; they are married. Often one of the couple believes that the separation is a time for working out problems and that the marriage will ultimately survive. No one should be having sex with others until the ink dries on the divorce papers (and I am not going to argue in this post about various religious beliefs on divorce and sex outside of marriage). Only when both partners legally are no longer bound is moving on to another partner justified. For that matter, neither of the partners should even begin dating until the divorce is final and no single folk out there should take up with persons who are still married regardless of how long they have been separated .

Marriage is too important an institution to regard carelessly and treat as mere whim. I am saddened by how few seem to see it this way.

Like the others, he separated from the group in the wee hours of the morning and ended up drowned in a river close to the bar. Police have not yet discovered the Smiley Face symbol which is left near the location the body entered the water, but I am sure it is just a matter of time before they discover its whereabouts.

It is clearly time for Interpol to get involved. This sick group of individuals who target innocent men out having a good time with their mates must be stopped before their membership increases and it becomes unsafe the world over for young men to party with their friends.

It is time to start documenting each and every drowning of a young male in a river near a bar and get these cases over to the two detectives, Kevin Gannon and Antony Duarte, so they can analyze them and include them in their investigation.

Thanks. They need your help!

(The above post is a parody, but I still would have no problem with you sending every drunk male drowning victim case over to the investigators.)

arrived home from work and found a big box on his porch with his wife's name on the label. Ah, maybe something she ordered for the garden. He picked it up and brought it in the house.

A few minutes later, he is upstairs changing his clothes, in his underwear and socks, when he hears crashing and a SWAT team blasts into his house. Guns go off, Calvo's two black Labradors are dead on the floor and he and his mother-in-law were cuffed and interrogated for hours.

Most everyone is outraged that the police busted into this home and killed the two dogs especially when no one can believe Cheye or his wife, Trinity, could be involved in drug dealing. Both work for the government and are highly respected and well-liked citizens; the town itself is quiet and unused to actions such as this. Besides, this is the MAYOR!

So, the question is, were the police completely wrong in their actions? Was such violent force necessary or could they have simply knocked on the door? Did they do a proper investigation before they decided to use a no-knock entry? Was there really probable cause enough that a judge signed the warrant? Or is there major misconduct here?

Before we conclude that the police were remiss, let's look at the other side of the equation. Is it possible they DID do a thorough investigation and had ample reason to believe CheyeCalvo and/or his wife Trinity Tomsic was involved in some drug transactions? The package would have netted them anywhere from say $60,000 to $100,000? Even if they appear to be upstanding citizens, does this mean that one or both of them might not have another side to them we have not seen? It wouldn't be the first time that government workers or politicians have been involved in some scheme to raise their standard of living.

I don't know this man or his wife so I have no idea if they are the most wonderful people on earth or not. I certainly think they are not the most typical people to be targeted in a drug bust. I feel sorry for the dogs, but if the no-knock entry was necessary for some reason, I can see that the cops have to protect themselves (and I would say the folks who believe the Labs would only lick intruders need to get a reality check).

Horrific as this event was, we will need to wait and see what led the police to resort to this kind of action. If the Calvos are totally innocent, I really feel bad for them. If the police did not have probable cause and busted in, thereby terrorizing innocent citizens and killing their pets for nothing, I can understand the purpose of a lawsuit.

However, if it turns out the police were justified, well, then I would say good, they did their job. I personally believe all drug dealing, including marijuana, does nothing good for a community and those people who feel free to break the laws to spread this stuff should get taken down. I wouldn't want the police to do less.

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By Pat Brown

"Killing for Sport is the most valuable insight into the minds of serial killers that you will ever read. While other profilers tend to conceal the clear facts behind complex technical language and psychobabble. Pat Brown actually tells it like it is."